Darcy Wilkinson #2 Treasure Gold Storage ...

Welcome to my second project for May.

We all love Treasure Gold right? I have been using these little pots of glee for well over 10 years, in fact I still have the first pot that I bought, so it is only right that such treasure has its own storage. I started with an old delivery box from Amazon. One long rectangle with 2score lines and a shaped top, and 2 side pieces.

I used glossy accents to glue the side pieces on, and then used strips of kraft paper to cover all the joins, inside and out. This adds strength to all the 'seams'.

Next I made the stadium 'seating' again from the same box, and again I added strips of kraft paper to all the 'seams' both on the insides and on the outsides.

 

Next I added black gesso to all the edges and to all the inside corners. I wasn't sure at this point if I would cover the back of the inside so I painted that black too. The important thing is to paint all the edges. This covers the kraft strips that were added, and also gives neat edges.

Our last bit of prep is to make some feet. I took some wooden balls, they have one flat side. I dabbed grunge paste on with my finger, quite roughly to get the 'stippled' look. Once dry I painted them black.

That is all the prep done...

I took a couple of sheets of white card, and covered them fully with Treasure Gold. I used the brush bath to dilute each colour, this means that it spreads quickly and you don't need to use as much. I used Sapphire..Indigo..Emerald..Rose Quartz..Pewter

I blended them all together randomly and created beautiful metallic card. I used this to cover all the inside of my box. I cut the pieces slightly smaller than the box. You can see now where the black gesso comes into its own by providing a nice neat edge.

I then took some more pieces of my lovely new Metallic Card and ran it through an embossing folder.(Spots and Dots) I wanted to darken the edges of each piece, but wasn't sure what would work over the Treasure Gold. Turns out my black Portfolio Oil Pastel works just fine, I scribbled a little along each edge and smeared it with a finger.

I then used these embossed pieces to cover the 'seating'. Again I cut the pieces slightly smaller than the box, knowing that the black gesso underneath would show on the edges.

Once the 3 boxes were covered I glued them into place inside the box.

Now for the outside .......
I coloured some Grunge Paste with black gesso, then scraped it through a flower stencil. (Crafters Workshop) Once dry I again diluted Treasure Gold with Liquid Leaf Brush Bath, and painted over the flowers. I also painted over the black feet.

I used the now gorgeous textured pieces to cover the outside of the box. Again the pieces are slightly smaller than the box, showing off the black edges.

Now turn the box over, paint the base black and then glue on your feet, adding your strongest glue to the flat part of the wooden balls. Press firmly into place and leave until the glue is set.

Lastly I cut some squares of cotton fabric, actually it is just old sheeting. I rolled up each square and tied them with yarn.

Now the box is ready to fill. The bundles of polishing clothes pop into the box at the back, the Brush Bath stands in front of those, then there is space for 10 jars of Treasure Gold on the seating.

Over to you, decorate some storage for your Treasure Gold.. an old cereal box, jewellery box,spice rack,shoe box....anything, make it pretty and put it on show. The best way to use your stash is to have it on show. I am guilty of putting lovely things away in drawers and then forgetting them. This way you get to see those luscious little pots shimmering away and seeing them reminds you to use them.

See you next time for a play with fabric.

Leandra Says: I love this treasure gold stadium seating!! Perfect idea to have those beauties ready to hand!

Gillian Says: Another "think outside the box" idea Darcy ... these little pots of treasures look fab in their new home.

To play along with darcy's challenges this week, simply click HERE to upload/share your project with us.

Welcome Darcy Wilkinson #1 ....

"Hello and welcome to my first guest blogger post. Today I have a quick and simple project to get us started".

I was looking for some cork coasters, after searching my local stores I gave up and bought a pack of plain black ones from the supermarket. I planned to paint over the black coating, but as I pulled them from the packaging a little of the black coating came away. I am so glad this happened at this point, rather than after I had painted them. 

I peeled off the rest of the black, then lightly misted the white backing paper that was left behind with a little water and gently rubbed it with my fingers till I was left with 4 blank cork coasters.

I then gave each coaster a thin coat of PVA glue mixed with a little water, this was just to seal them. Now onto the decorating. I started with a few small blobs of paint randomly dotted onto the surface. Tinned Peas, Sky, Baltic Blue and Guacamole.

I took a metal scraper, you could just as easily use an old credit card, and scraped the colours in one smooth motion from top to bottom.

I turned the coaster around and scraped again from top to bottom.

I really liked how the shape of the blobs was left behind the stripes of the scraping.
Once the paint was dry I used Adirondack Colour Wash sprays through a couple of stencils.

I left these to dry and then I used a brayer to add a generous coat of Snowflake Fresco paint. It looks slightly pink, that is the dye colourwash ink from the previous layer pushing through.

Once the white layer was dry it was time to stamp. I sorted out 4 flower stamps from the following sets.

 HP 1009

HP1204

and 1 from Mini 68

I added them using Archival Ink (Jet Black). I also added some random dots using Mini 72

Now the fun part, make sure the black ink is completely dry, then take a damp baby wipe and start to rub back some of the layers. The harder you rub the more layers will come off so take it easy to start with. In some parts I rubbed right back to the brown of the original coaster.

Don't be afraid to rub away parts of your flowers, we are going for a shabby/worn away style here. The next thing that happened was a happy accident. I knew the inks would show through, what I didn't expect was that they would kind of bloom and rise quite dramatically to the surface. I really like the effect, it reminds me of old fashioned wallpaper. I left them to dry fully and then I gave each one 2 coats of gloss medium to seal them and add a shiny surface.

That's it all done, a set of shabby chic coasters, all you need now is a tea party to show them off.

Leandra Says: Ahhh, you got the cupcakes in there! How cool does the Wild Plum C/wash look! I remember I had once sprayed a canvas with lots of lettuce green/ denim blue colourwash on top of paints. Decided I didn't like it, and would start over. Tried to gesso/ white paint over the top, and it kept coming though...never thought to deliberately re-create this though!

Gillian Says: Love Love Love this idea Darcy, such a brilliant transformation. can I come for tea? x

To join in with our Guest Designer challenge this week, simply click HERE to upload/share your creativity.

Winners ....

Huge thanks to Carol for her fantastic projects this week on the PaperArtsy blog, Carol certainly had you all running to your stash eager to create as you can tell by the Challenge entries this week.

Without further ado onto our winners from Carol's challenge .... Leandra sneakily offered 4 prizes this week ... apparently she is sending out a new item mentioned on last nights blog post in each prize baggie. So these 4 people are the first to get their hands on new stash!
 
Random winner #1 from last week's first draw (every single entry linked): Jax

Random winner #2 (selected from one entry per person linked) is: Kirsten Alicia

 and our two extra winners this week are Lin ....

 and .... Janet

We are really excited also by our Fourth Guest Designer who will be making her debut in just 15 minutes .... Please join us in welcoming Darcy Wilkinson. I know a few of us already follow Darcy's work but if you haven't here is a few samples to inspire you, and a lovely intro from Darcy herself. 

"Hi I am Darcy, 43 years old and living in the North East of the UK. A professional title for me would be Mixed Media Artist, however on a day to day basis I like to use the term 'sticker and gluer and maker of stuff"

I have been 'making stuff' forever. You name it and I have had a go at it, but with no art qualifications i am very much a 'Jack of all trades and master of none'. 

I started with yarn, when my great grandmother taught me to knit at age 4. I continued to knit throughout my childhood, and occasionally dabbled in drawing.  In my late teens I learnt to crochet, only the basics, it was never a great love for me. Then I moved onto cross stitch, machine embroidery, making bags, patchwork and quilting and every kind of paper-crafts. 

I have qualifications in traditional Millinery, but pretty much everything else is self taught. My grandmother was a head baker, so I guess that is where I got my love of making cakes. 

I have never taken art classes, and I think that is a good thing, it means I am free to use whatever medium I want in whatever way that I want. I am not entirely lawless, but I do find following 'art rules' very stifling. 

These days I do more paper-craft style projects than fabric crafts.  I do not have the discipline, nor the technical knowledge to keep an artists sketchbook, but I can do  art journals. I love them, mainly because they feed my passion for layers and texture,but also because I am enchanted with turning pages to see what comes next.  

I also love to build... I enjoy making things totally from scratch. I make journals, storage, bags, dolls.. I get as much enjoyment from the building as I do from the decorating.  Some of the things I will show you this week are builds, and some are bought items decorated. 

When Leandra first asked me to be a guest designer it totally threw me into a panic, I think she guessed that from the message I sent back! LOL I explained that I didn't think my projects would be of interest to the PaperArtsy followers, but she assured me it would all be OK. So I jumped on board and then panicked about what I was going to make for you. 

Some months, and many, many lists later and here we are at my semester. I am beyond excited to be a part of this, and yes still a little terrified. I hope that I can show you things that you perhaps would never have thought of making. Things that might take you out of your comfort zone. Things that encourage you to play, because at the end of the day it's all about having fun. 

I know you are in for real treat this coming week! Darcy blows me away with what she does how she does it, words truly escape me, but I am sure, by the end of the week you will certainly know what I mean. That brain of hers could well be wired differently to the rest of us, and lucky her.... because she comes out with stuff that finds you asking yourself 'why didn't I think of that?' and ohhhhhh, and ahhhhhh ! For example, look at the painting above, the eggs in the nest a JOFY flower stamps (the circular heads), who would have thought of that?? Darcy, that's who! She seems oblivious to how clever she really is, and its lovely to have her share this semester on the blog with you all.

Darcy is the epitome of a 'think outside the box' crafter. The detail in the small-print of her creativity never ceases to astonish, and although you likely won't have time this week to create projects from start to finish along the lines of those she is shares, there will be plenty of techniques, ideas, or new concepts that you might like to try out for this week's challenge. 

It's over to you, the challenge is about how you are inspired by our blogger-of -the-week, you don't need to copy a project exactly, a spin off creation sparked by the blog posts is entirely appropriate too.

The prize this week will be a brand new JOFY A5 size plate, I get to choose and surprise you, so it will be just like Xmas when you open the challenge post! You know how much i love a surprise!

Enjoy!

 

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If you are inspired by Darcy this week, and would like to play along and share your art with us, then please feel free to link your work here, and go in the pools for a chance to win PaperArtsy stash.Draw 1 is 1 entry per person, and Draw 2 is for all the names entered, except the winner of Draw 1, so you can enter multiple times or enter just once and be in to win!

An {extravaganza} .... In lots of ways!

If you don't know about, or haven't heard about this annual event at The Craft Barn, Surrey, UK, then you need to know! Every year Sandy and her amazing team put on this massive event, and its free! You just rock on up to see at least 25 demonstrators using all kinds of products from all kinds of companies. And then you can go to the shop and buy whatever you have seen demoed. It's a fantastic event, and a wonderful chance to chat to the demonstrators, ask questions etc. and its all happening next weekend, June 1st and 2nd.

As you may know, the Craft Barn has recently moved to a brand new location near Redhill, not too far from where they were previously in Lingfield. It's still a barn, but bigger, and newer, and full to the brim with all your favourite crafting products. The new address is The Craft Barn, Priory Farm, Sandy Lane, South Nutfield, Surrey RH1 4EJ ph 0844 800 8551 or 01737 822 961

There will be several very talented people demoing with PaperArtsy products: Lin Brown (her own Eclectica series of stamps dies, and a new product...see below..., Fresco paints, and Grunge Paste), Jo Firth-Young (with her own stamps, but specifically 3 new stamp sets, and 6 new minis, Frescos), Kay Carley (Jo's flower stamps with Copic Markers), Helen Chilton (Lynne Perrella stamps, Frescos & Grunge Paste), Di Oliver and Karen Gist (Tando Creative chipboard with Fresco paints and Lynne Perrella stamps) and Leandra (many PaperArtsy products and Treasure Gold).

This year we will be demoing in 3 marquees on site. Near the shop there is a fantastic farm shop selling amazing food, and across the road there is a Garden Centre with a superb cafe, but if I were you I would bring a packed lunch just in case those options are really busy. You don't want to miss out on your shopping time!!

So especially for this occasion, we have developed some very cool new products. We will have 2 limited edition colours of Treasure Gold, an amazing steel blue and a lovely green.

We have also got 6 sets of chipboard shapes, these match Lin Brown's Eclectica series of stamps, but as you can see from the product shots below, they are versatile for use with other stamps too!! In fact, they look fantastic with our Lynne Perella stamps too, and I can see Lin will be adding some personality to her flower arrangements with a few flower faces! You get 2 of each of the different shapes in a bag for £2.50

And Jo Firth-Young has also been a busy bee. She has developed 3 new sets of JOFY collection large stamp sets, and 6 new minis. These all come individually trimmed on EZ mount foam! More things for your wish list!!

The launch of all these products will be at the Craft Barn Extravaganza! So please, do come along and make it a fantastic occasion for Sandy and her team at this wonderful new location! It's going to be amazing.

It's next weekend, June 1st and 2nd I hope to see you there ! 

PS Don't forget that you have until NOON GMT tomorrow to link up your entry for this week's challenge as inspired by Carol Q. 

I did say you might get something unexpected! so 2 people will be first in the world to get some of these new releases!!!!  After all, they won't be on our site for ages...we will let the shops have them first! Gotta be in to WIN!

I tell you what..... let's draw 4 prizes this week!!!  Woop woop!

Leandra

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